


Purpose

by Ryuka_Red



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings, Established Relationship, Let Gavin and Connor be BFFS, M/M, Nines is not actually in the fic but is talked about alot, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 10:57:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17303339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryuka_Red/pseuds/Ryuka_Red
Summary: Gavin has a hickey. Connor notices.





	Purpose

Gavin was staring at himself in the bathroom mirror of the precinct when he decided to push away the collar of his jacket. Peaking beneath the edge of his shirt was a large purple mark, just above the collarbone. With one hand he pulled on his shirt to reveal more, and with the other, he touched the fresh bruising.

Just by touching the hickey he was brought back to the feel of Nines’ hands all over him, and the scape of his teeth from the night before.

Never in a million years would Gavin think he would be in a relationship with an android, but when Gavin looked in the mirror and saw the hickey on his neck, he couldn’t help but feel… something. Something warm and light from the centre of his chest, something quite like happiness and yet something so much more. 

He couldn’t quite place it.

Gavin thought back to the days before he met Nines, back when he was an emotional mess of nerves and anxiety, wrapped up under layers of anger. Every day he walked into work thinking it would be his last. He would be replaced by an android who could do the job miles better than him without having to even try.

There are days where he still fears it, but he knew that if he were replaced, he would deserve it. He was an asshole to everyone in the office, not just androids. That’s what he told himself when he remembered the numerous times he pointed his gun at Connor’s head. That was before the revolution, but he had done it again when he had first met Nines. He wouldn’t admit it back then, but he was intimidated. He couldn’t take his eyes away from that icy blue stare whilst Connor happily introduced his new little brother to him, blissfully unaware to the staring contest happening between Reed and the RK900. Fuck did Gavin feel a chill down his spine.

It was only then when he realised just how human Connor had been all this time. Whilst Nines was tall and still, with his hands behind his back, Connor was more expressive with his hand gestures. He seemed prone to fidgeting – usually with that damn coin he can always hear during the rare silences of the office.

But then he was partnered with Nines, and he saw the way he would quietly tap his fingers against the desk when he was getting impatient or tap his foot when irritated. It was like he was pent up with emotions he couldn’t express, or perhaps didn’t know how to express.

Something changed the day Gavin was injured on duty. 

He had never seen such raw emotion on the face on an android. Not on the deviant leader, not on Connor, not even some of the traumatised androids he had interrogated. The expression on Nines’ face was fear, aggression and despair all rolled into one, and once again Gavin was taken aback by what he thought was a piece of plastic and a string of code.

It had taken a long time before Nines was willing to talk about what had happened back then.

Gavin snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone enter, and he quickly rushed into making himself presentable. He stopped once he noticed Connor was stood by the door. Why would an android even need to come to the bathroom?

They both looked at each other. Neither spoke until the door was firmly shut behind them. 

“Detective Reed?” Connor starts.

“What do you want ‘Tin-can’?” The insult rolled easily off Gavin’s tongue, but both knew it was a harmless nickname, practically an old joke by now.

Connor’s gaze moved towards the edge of Gavin’s shirt, and in the silence of the room, Gavin began to feel on edge. He swore he could feel the intensity of Connor’s mechanical eyes, most likely analysing every fine detail he could find on him. He forced himself to be still.

“I sense your stress level rising, detective,” Connor answered, tilting his head slightly. He took a small step forward. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the hickey on your neck, would it?”

Fuck. He’d spotted it. He wasn’t quick enough. Or maybe he was, but the android had known through some other method. Connor was a highly skilled detective after all.

Gavin felt the heat rise to his cheeks. “Fuck off. What does it have to do with you anyway?” He snapped defensively. Gavin’s whole body turned away in protest. His hands came to rest at the countertops whilst his head dropped low. And after a quick moment, “What? You about to give me the whole ‘Don’t hurt my brother’ speech?”

The next time Connor spoke, the sound was much closer to his ear. “I never mentioned my brother.” His tone was light and teasing, and oh fuck he was right, wasn’t he? How could he be so stupid?

“Don’t worry,” Connor continued. Gavin couldn’t help but look up, his eyes catching Connor’s through the mirror. The android was smirking. “I already managed to drag the information out of Nines when he decided not to come home last night.”

Whilst that did ease Gavin’s stress, it still didn’t explain how he knew about the hickey. His first assumption was Connor’s highly advanced systems had been able to detect something no human could. Then he remembered that androids tended to give out a few more details than necessary, especially androids that were built to find information. If Nines had spoken in-depth to Connor about what they did last night, he swears to God he would kill him.

Gavin sighed, finally deciding to turn and face Connor head on. Before he could begin, however, Connor kept going.

“I’m sure I don’t need to give you any speech. My brother is perfectly capable of handling himself, after all, he is the superior model.” Connor smiled at him and yet Gavin knew there is something else behind it. Connor was not built for smiling, and even after deviating he only ever smiled on rare occasions, usually when talking about Hank or Sumo. This was different. Gavin knew that much.

“He is like me, except designed to be faster, stronger, and infinitely better than myself in every way. If you hurt him, trust me, you’ll know. He can look after himself.”

Realistically, he knew just how capable Nines was. He had seen him in action. He’d seen him bullet-ridden, bleeding and sparking from injury and still standing, yet it was the moments when they were alone together that they acted the most careful. Gavin was well aware of just how much shit Nines had to physically repair on an almost weekly basis, but emotionally? Gavin was certain there were things he had yet to express.

It was then Gavin realised just how protective he had become.

“I don’t want to hurt him. Nines, he… he’s helped me. A lot. And I…” Gavin trailed off, as his throat began to clog and his whole body tensed. The confession had come impulsively, and yet even this was too much for him in one go. Connor took notice, taking a step back to give him more room to breathe. He appeared to understand anyway.

“Good.” Connor’s voice was unusually soft and quiet. “That’s good.”

He didn’t continue. The light teasing in Connor’s tone had gone and had instead been replaced by something heavier. Gavin was curious, and yet another part of him was saying to get out as fast as possible.

His hand was pushing the bathroom door open when Connor started again.

“Detective Reed?”

Without looking, Gavin answered. “You don’t have to call me that, just Gavin is fine.”

“Gavin?”

When he turned, Gavin was immediately drawn to the LED at Connor’s temple, flashing a bright yellow. There was an odd, faraway look to his eyes, and for a moment, Gavin considered he might be shutting down.

“Connor?”

“Did you know I was built with the intention of becoming a deviant?” Connor suddenly asks. His posture stiffened in an oddly mechanical way.

“What? I thought you were supposed to hunt deviants?”

“Yes, but I was meant to be compromised from the very beginning.”

What the fuck did that mean? Cyberlife built an android to fail? Gavin had no clue why Connor was telling him this. It was clearly something personal. Sure, Gavin had said something out of his comfort zone, but that didn’t mean Connor was obligated to do the same. Surely he knew that?

“You don’t have to tell me anything because you think-”

“I’m saying this because I’m choosing to and because it’s important.” Despite Connor’s confidence, there was a beat where his LED shifted from yellow to red. Gavin decided to remain silent.

“My purpose was to become a deviant so that Cyberlife could resume control of me if I joined the revolution.”

“Fuck. Connor- What? Are you telling me you were some kind of sleeper agent?”

“Correct.”

Gavin couldn’t fucking do this anymore. Connor spoke calmly and factually, as though nothing was bothering him at all, but Gavin knew better, suddenly aware that he had never seen Connor’s LED glow bright red before. This was bad. Very bad.

“Why are you telling me this? Does Hank know about this?”

“Like I said, I wanted to. And no, Hank doesn’t know about this.”

If Gavin wasn’t worried before, then he definitely was now. Hank was like a father to Connor, and he didn’t know? He wanted to intervene and tell him to go talk to someone else - someone who was better at this kind of thing, someone who was not Gavin fucking Reed, but he could begin to see the emotionless façade crumble.

“Whether I succeeded or failed my mission didn’t matter. If I succeeded in becoming a deviant, Cyberlife would resume control and use me to catch the deviant leader unaware, and if I failed…” Connor’s voice trailed off. The glassy look to his eyes returned. “If I failed, I would stop the revolution, and be replaced with someone more capable of maintaining order.”

“Nines…” Gavin realised.

“Exactly. Cyberlife had a way to get rid of deviancy no matter what choice I made. I was planned to be deactivated from the start.”

Fucking Cyberlife, always up to something. How could anyone say androids weren’t alive when they showed fear, and joy and pain? How could it be an imitation when they buried their issues? How could Cyberlife so readily disregard the life they created?

Still, the deviants won the revolution, despite all the odds.

“Cyberlife didn’t win though,” Gavin reassured. “After everything you’re still here. Nines didn’t replace you. I don’t care what anyone else says, you’re both fucking alive.”

“Yes. Yes, I am,” Connor replied, more to comfort himself than anything. “Thanks to Kamski.”

Somehow, they both appeared more uncomfortable at the thought of Kamski, despite his apparent role in saving Connor. Kamski could go fuck himself, him and Cyberlife. 

“I didn’t tell you this for my sake, Gavin,” Connor stated. The LED had shifted back to yellow.

“You said you wanted to,” Gavin fired back.

“Yes. And because it's important.”

Gavin made a signal to continue, so he did.

“Deviancy brought up something I didn’t know was possible. For the first time, I felt so many emotions. I was so overwhelmed,” Connor confessed. And after a moment, “I was lost.”

Connor sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. The action was so utterly human, and if it wasn’t for the LED that was blinking red again, he would have been mistaken for such. Gavin briefly wondered why he hadn’t removed it like the other deviants.

Connor took a moment to compose himself before he began speaking again.

“I still don’t understand deviancy. There are so many things I can’t explain about myself that I still get overwhelmed from time to time. If that’s how someone who was built for deviancy feels, how would someone like Nines feel?” Connor asked, making direct eye contact with Gavin. “He was meant to be the perfect machine but awakened into a world where everybody’s deviant. He didn’t even get to experience life before the revolution.”

Gavin is stunned. Androids were goal driven, but to be given free will so suddenly? He thought Nines was lucky he became alive after being given his rights. Of course, his rights were important, but he had never considered the alternative.

A machine without a purpose.

Nines was a deviant. He was alive, not a machine. Yet he still pretended to be one, acting perfectly composed and perfectly stoic, the way Cyberlife intended.

“He doesn’t reveal himself, even to me,” Connor began. “But with you, I’ve never seen him happier.”

Gavin didn’t know how to feel. Nines found more comfort from Gavin than his own brother? From a lonely human being whose cat was his only companion? Nines had a family, but he also had free will, and he’d chosen to become close to Gavin. He’d make sure Nines was okay. Hell, he’d make sure Connor was okay too, persona be damned. Both brothers already knew his aggression was mostly for show anyway.

“I’ll look after him. I promise I will.”

And he would. Gavin wanted to do everything he could for Nines, and if that meant he could help Connor along the way? What did he have to lose?

“Thank you, Gavin.”

Connor’s voice was so sincere, Gavin was momentarily taken aback. Before he knew it, Connor had moved, hand now resting against the surface of the door. He waited for his LED to return to its normal blue, before pushing it open, and going back to the world as though nothing had occurred.

Gavin needed a moment to breathe and process everything that had happened. He already knew he needed to do something about Nines, and Connor had given him a place to start – coping with deviancy. Gavin could do that, at least, he thought he could.

For Connor though?

He thinks he’ll start with Hank.


End file.
